What are you reading now?

[Atticus]

(Although there's one section I have skipped every time I've read it.)

I have always thought Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the Great American Novel (first serious examination of racism in America), but the Mississippi River Folklore sections can easily be skipped over. Same with The Great Gatsby and all the party scenes.

[cigar95]

Good for you! Even as a 30-year lit instructor, I can't slog through tomes like that . . . or War and Peace . . . or Moby Dick. Give me Dan Brownian 3-page chapters, with a cliff-hanger ending in each one!

On the other hand, put 'Les Miserables' in my hands and I'll probably finish it in about ten days. (Although there's one section I have skipped every time I've read it.)

[bad hammy]

Good for you! Even as a 30-year lit instructor, I can't slog through tomes like that . . . or War and Peace . . . or Moby Dick. Give me Dan Brownian 3-page chapters, with a cliff-hanger ending in each one!

For some reason, about two decades ago I forced myself to make it through The Brothers K but wasn't happy about it. As for W&P, I've attempted that about a half-dozen times without making it out of the opening party scene. One time I bypassed that section, going straight to the military stuff - that didn't work either. Never tried MD but enjoyed the John Huston/Ray Bradbury/Gregory Peck movie as a kid.

[Atticus]

'The Brothers Karamazov' by Dostoyevsky. Recommended to me as beneficial for Lent. (I may finish it by Pentecost - it's not what one would call a "quick read"!)

Good for you! Even as a 30-year lit instructor, I can't slog through tomes like that . . . or War and Peace . . . or Moby Dick. Give me Dan Brownian 3-page chapters, with a cliff-hanger ending in each one!

[cigar95]

'The Brothers Karamazov' by Dostoyevsky. Recommended to me as beneficial for Lent. (I may finish it by Pentecost - it's not what one would call a "quick read"!)

[bambam1729]

About halfway thru "Apollo's Arrow" by Nicholas Christakis, which is about the pandemic. I've kinda gotten into reading about the pandemic so I can try to understand it better. This is very good.

[Steele]

Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott. I thought I would read it, then watch the movie. Turns out the movie is no relation to the classic novel.

Totally engrossing, but be prepared to wrangle with reading Scottish words that bear a passing resemblance to their English counterparts. 10/10.

Some time back I started reading from the Classics shelf in my local library, which is sorted by author. I started in the Zs and am working backward.

Really enjoyed The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington. I was born near Cincinnati, OH in the '50s and feel like I touched a little bit of family history in reading these books.

[Davidokun]

Arthur Koestler
Darkness at Noon
Translated by Daphne Hardy
Signet Books
Published by The New American Library of World Literature
Twelfth printing
September 1960

Hype from the back cover:

Brainwashed!

One of the memorable novels of modern times, this is the story of a strong and dedicated man who was destroyed by the dictator state he had helped to create.

Moving and dramatic, Darkness at Noon gives a potent and intimate picture of totalitarian terrorism—and of a man of dignity and integrity who finally succumbed to fiendish psychological torture, betrayed the woman that he loved, and confessed to crimes he never committed.

A widely acclaimed work of fiction, Darkness at Noon became an outstanding Broadway hit, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the Best American Play of the season, and recently received nationwide praise when it was given a brilliant production on television.

Also given away by the aforementioned former colleague, an earlier printing is available online.

[Halfmiler2]

I just read Around The World In 80 Days by Jules Verne to see if the current Masterpiece Series on PBS follows the book. The short answer is that other than the route, the series has little resemblance to the book. Characters and incidents do not match. Even Phineas Fogg is vastly different.

The book is easy reading since it was originally written as a newspaper serial. There are 175 pages divided into 37 chapters - less than 5 pages per chapter.

[Davidokun]

John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath
Bantam Books
1972

Somehow I stumbled through both high school and college without reading this masterpiece. The copy I just consumed—or by which I was just consumed—bears ink stamps from my alma mater high school on the inside front cover, and at the bottom of Page 100. I'll be on the lookout for Lt. Joe Bookman:

I've added Whose Names Are Unknown to my reading list.

[Adam$]

Did Doris Duke kill her interior designer in a fit of temper? I read this because I thought I may recognize a few names in the content. I didn't except for an undertaker. Anyway the tobacco/power/other heiress got away with things in '66 Newport (she also lived in NJ/HI) at the "Rough Point" estate. The fellow died by being rammed against a front iron gate with a station wagon.

[Davidokun]

John L. Spivak
Secret Armies: The New Technique of Nazi Warfare
Modern Age Books
1939

Controversial, contemporary investigative reporting on Fifth Column activity in Europe and the Americas by Axis agents and local sympathizers. The Russians—and their sympathizers—are up to similar shenanigans in the Ukraine—and elsewhere—these days. Also given away by the aforementioned former colleague, it is available online.

[bambam1729]

Did you play in that game??

Pretty funny, Jay. I remember the day I had my first beer, too.

[Alcyallen]

Kyrik: Warlock Warrior.....Gardner G Fox

Here we have the classic heroic fantasy sandals in the sand stuff, demons, sorcery, monstrosities, magic swords, it's all there. Escapism at it's very best, what is around the next rock.......love it!

A little too much flesh on the cover above...


51U2fKfpA6L.SX316.SY480._SL500_.jpg

[DrJay]

That's a tremendous book - I got to meet the author, Scott Ellsworth, a few years ago when he came and spoke at Duke

Did you play in that game??